The improvement shows a continued slowdown of hiring since the start of the year when 251,000 jobs were added in January, followed by 259,000 in February, dropping to 154,000 in March.

The BLS said employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade, and health care, but declined in transportation and warehousing.

The number of unemployed people in the country totaled 12.5 million in April, down from about 12.6 million in March, when the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent.

There were 5.1 million people considered "long-term" unemployed in April, those jobless for 27 weeks and over, making up about 41.3 percent of those out of work. The BLS also revised employment numbers from February and March, showing an increase of 53,000 more jobs that originally reported.